 Ring in the new year with amazing savings from Appalachian Wireless. Get the Galaxy S7 for just $49.99 when you sign a renew a two-year service agreement. Better service, bigger savings. That's today's Appalachian Wireless. As President Donald Trump and the new Republican Congress work to repeal the Affordable Care Act, there will be much ringing of hands and gnashing of teeth across the middle class, particularly in cold country, where black lung benefits recipients now face a future of uncertainty. There's a real risk that if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, that is, Obamacare, that it could affect a lot of people who depend on black lung benefits. Now it won't affect everyone. Now there's people that were awarded benefits back before the Affordable Care Act was ever passed and those people should be safe. But for everyone who's been awarded benefits since 2010 or everyone who might want to apply going forward, this could make a difference in your life. As the Affordable Care Act was being hammered out, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia put in place certain measures inside the bill that would make it easier for black lung recipients to receive and retain their benefits. For the people who have been awarded benefits since 2010, there's a risk that the insurance companies might want to reopen your award and say without the Affordable Care Act does this person deserve benefits. Now that's a risk for those people. But for the people whose benefits are further back, there's less risk now. But for those widows who have been able to get benefits, there's also a risk for them. Basically anyone who's been awarded benefits since 2010, there's a risk for them. Thank you. If you're one of the people who's affected, the main thing to make sure is that the members of Congress know about this provision and know that it matters and regardless of what people think about Obamacare as a whole, the black lung improvement should be kept. And Congress need to know that and they're not going to know that unless people who are affected let them know. Smith says that the best case scenario would be for the section of the ACA concerning black lung benefits to be left in place. For now, all minors and their families can do is hope and watch. Reporting from Floyd County, for EKB News, I'm Jackson Ladder.